The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee."

Stephen Vincent Benét, from Bury My Heart at wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is a painful book to read. It is not painful because it fails in its prose or in its ability to tell a story. It is painful because it is shameful, bloody or horrible.

The book was originally published in 1970. This review covers the 1990 republication, which includes a new preface.

The book is the story of the conquest and subjection of the American Indians of the west from about 1860 to 1890.

Most chapters, aside from the first which is summarizes the story of the Indians from 1429 to about 1860, tells the story of the conquest of one group of Indians. The first such story is that of the Navaho, who were abused and persecuted by a General from California during the period of the Civil War. Destroyed where their fields of grain, herds of cattle and horses, and peach orchards. Only after many years of such treatment were they allowed to leave the worthless piece of land they had been forced onto after many of their elders and children had died.

They were the lucky ones.

"I have also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females and stretched them over their saddle-bows and wore them over their while ridding in the ranks."

J.M. Chivington, from Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

One of the low points of American history must be the massacre of the Black Kettle camp in Colorado. After many promises of safety and protection the governor of Colorado and a preacher turned general had the chief Black Kettle convinced of his safety and their honor. They also had him geographically in the right place to ambush his tribe, which they did one day.

A militia made up of local armed men butchered women and children and defiled their bodies afterwards. When the dust settled they had kept themselves out of the Civil War, where their enemies would have been other whites and better armed, and also drove the Indians from Colorado. Having accomplished everything that they set out to do, they had much of which to be proud.

Repeated most often was the story Black Kettle's people, not that of the Navaho. Military charges would sweep away tribes, killing women and children and soldiers burned all items left behind by fleeing survivors.

There were genuinely good white men present. However, they failed to make a real difference in the fate of the Indians. They sometimes compromised what they knew to be right in the face of peer pressure and to feed their appetites. Others were finally insignificant against the overwhelming tide of rapacious and genocidal whites. Most such individuals portrayed in "Wounded Knee" are military officers who were court martialed, forced to retire, or who had their carriers destroyed because they were not ruthless killers.

"For a mighty nation like us to be carrying on a war with a few straggling nomads, under such circumstances, is a spectacle most humiliating, an injustice unparalleled, a national crime most revolting, that must sooner or later, bring down upon us or our posterity the judgement of Heaven."

John B. Sanburn to the Secretary of the Interior, from Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

Steadily, but inevitably, white men advanced across the continent in pursuit of their dream of manifest destiny. There are numerous instances in the book of a lack of cohesion -- a bad side of freedom -- foiling Indians strategy. Warriors, usually young and prideful (the building blocks of adventuring groups) at the expense of the group, and ultimately the Indian nation.

In attacking, killing driving Indians from their ancestral homes and practicing out-right genocide the United States Army, and thus the United States Federal Government, was acting upon the wishes of the American people. Never let it be said that the government of the people, by the people and for the people is insensitive or unresponsive to the desires, ambitions and appetites of its people.

"The Indians...were only imitating their enemies, a practice which in warfare, as in civilian life, is said to be the sincerest form of flattery."

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

Just because Indians were not saints, one-and-all, does not mean that what happened to them is even remotely acceptable. Indians did break the treaties, and they did commit what would today be judges as war crimes. However, these acts were almost inevitably in response to violations of treaties and horrific acts first committed by white men upon the Indians.

Evil is the infliction of suffering upon anything capable of perceiving that suffering. What was done to the Indians is indisputably evil, it was and act of greed and hate that went far beyond any real need of white people to feed and protect themselves.

True right and wrong are eternal as the stars, mortal interpretation of ethics changes faster than the tides, to feed whatever hungers people feel at any given moment.

It is now wrong to butcher a people, to drive them from their homes, and to steal all their possessions. A century ago, people believed differently, but it was still an act of evil.

"When the first torn and bleeding bodies were carried into the candlelit church, those who were conscious could Christmas greenery hanging from open rafters. Across the chancel front above, the pulpit was strung a crudely lettered banner: PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN."

Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

In a world where a man is drug behind a truck to his death because he is black and little children are machined gunned in a community center because they are Jewish, it is wrong -- even in fiction -- to portray any race as inherently evil. That it is entertaining and the corner stone of most role-playing games to slaughter "evil" races is beyond reprehensible.

Yet, what are orcs, and other such groups, for if not butchering?

Role-playing Games are not necessarily high art, and there is no inherent requirement that they contain social commentary. However, the fact that nearly all of them unabashedly contain "evil" races -- who always bear an uncanny resemblance to nomadic aboriginal cultures -- is inexcusable.

That Gary Gygax's racism will not been excised even from third edition is truly disappointing. The way D&D attempted to create an analogy of the discovery and colonization of the Americas with the Forgotten Realms Mazteca supplements is also appalling.

White Wolf, the ideological opposite of D&D, is little better. In "Werewolf: the Wild West" they strongly suggested the massacre at Wounded Knee was a good thing. At the same time they always bend over backwards to emphatically state that all technology is bad and evil, a philosophy that is just as asinine.

The only game systems that even come close to any sort of racial responsibility and maturity are Deadlands, Last Unicorn Games Star Trek, and lately Blizzard. In Deadlands, the Indians may not be winning, but they are not an "evil" race for character to kill, and they are making a good showing of protecting themselves. Star Trek also does not have any "evil" races -- with the possible exception of the Borg, who are more of a "thing" than a race – but they still manage to present hostile and dangerous races. Juding by what has been posted at the Blizzard web site, the Third Warcraft game will have the orcs as tribal and not evil. All three companies do this without moving into the dreaded "political correctness."

Would that other game companies would do likewise.

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" should be required reading in high schools across America. It would go a lot further to help produce better people than having to memorize Poe's "the Raven" ever does.

Likewise, gamers, who pride themselves on being a tolerant and open-minded bunch of people, would do well to read this excellent book before they ride in on their next village full of an "evil" race.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Author: Dee Brown Category: Historical book Company/Publisher: Herny Hold and Company Line: novel Cost: 14.95 Page count: 445 ISBN: 0-8050-1730-5 Capsule Review by Robert Sullivan on 10/17/99. Genre tags: Historical Old_West	"I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee." Stephen Vincent Benét, from Bury My Heart at wounded Knee, Dee Brown. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is a painful book to read. It is not painful because it fails in its prose or in its ability to tell a story. It is painful because it is shameful, bloody or horrible. The book was originally published in 1970. This review covers the 1990 republication, which includes a new preface. The book is the story of the conquest and subjection of the American Indians of the west from about 1860 to 1890. Most chapters, aside from the first which is summarizes the story of the Indians from 1429 to about 1860, tells the story of the conquest of one group of Indians. The first such story is that of the Navaho, who were abused and persecuted by a General from California during the period of the Civil War. Destroyed where their fields of grain, herds of cattle and horses, and peach orchards. Only after many years of such treatment were they allowed to leave the worthless piece of land they had been forced onto after many of their elders and children had died. They were the lucky ones. "I have also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females and stretched them over their saddle-bows and wore them over their while ridding in the ranks." J.M. Chivington, from Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown. One of the low points of American history must be the massacre of the Black Kettle camp in Colorado. After many promises of safety and protection the governor of Colorado and a preacher turned general had the chief Black Kettle convinced of his safety and their honor. They also had him geographically in the right place to ambush his tribe, which they did one day. A militia made up of local armed men butchered women and children and defiled their bodies afterwards. When the dust settled they had kept themselves out of the Civil War, where their enemies would have been other whites and better armed, and also drove the Indians from Colorado. Having accomplished everything that they set out to do, they had much of which to be proud. Repeated most often was the story Black Kettle's people, not that of the Navaho. Military charges would sweep away tribes, killing women and children and soldiers burned all items left behind by fleeing survivors. There were genuinely good white men present. However, they failed to make a real difference in the fate of the Indians. They sometimes compromised what they knew to be right in the face of peer pressure and to feed their appetites. Others were finally insignificant against the overwhelming tide of rapacious and genocidal whites. Most such individuals portrayed in "Wounded Knee" are military officers who were court martialed, forced to retire, or who had their carriers destroyed because they were not ruthless killers. "For a mighty nation like us to be carrying on a war with a few straggling nomads, under such circumstances, is a spectacle most humiliating, an injustice unparalleled, a national crime most revolting, that must sooner or later, bring down upon us or our posterity the judgement of Heaven." John B. Sanburn to the Secretary of the Interior, from Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown. Steadily, but inevitably, white men advanced across the continent in pursuit of their dream of manifest destiny. There are numerous instances in the book of a lack of cohesion -- a bad side of freedom -- foiling Indians strategy. Warriors, usually young and prideful (the building blocks of adventuring groups) at the expense of the group, and ultimately the Indian nation. In attacking, killing driving Indians from their ancestral homes and practicing out-right genocide the United States Army, and thus the United States Federal Government, was acting upon the wishes of the American people. Never let it be said that the government of the people, by the people and for the people is insensitive or unresponsive to the desires, ambitions and appetites of its people. "The Indians...were only imitating their enemies, a practice which in warfare, as in civilian life, is said to be the sincerest form of flattery." Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown. Just because Indians were not saints, one-and-all, does not mean that what happened to them is even remotely acceptable. Indians did break the treaties, and they did commit what would today be judges as war crimes. However, these acts were almost inevitably in response to violations of treaties and horrific acts first committed by white men upon the Indians. Evil is the infliction of suffering upon anything capable of perceiving that suffering. What was done to the Indians is indisputably evil, it was and act of greed and hate that went far beyond any real need of white people to feed and protect themselves. True right and wrong are eternal as the stars, mortal interpretation of ethics changes faster than the tides, to feed whatever hungers people feel at any given moment. It is now wrong to butcher a people, to drive them from their homes, and to steal all their possessions. A century ago, people believed differently, but it was still an act of evil. "When the first torn and bleeding bodies were carried into the candlelit church, those who were conscious could Christmas greenery hanging from open rafters. Across the chancel front above, the pulpit was strung a crudely lettered banner: PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN." Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown. In a world where a man is drug behind a truck to his death because he is black and little children are machined gunned in a community center because they are Jewish, it is wrong -- even in fiction -- to portray any race as inherently evil. That it is entertaining and the corner stone of most role-playing games to slaughter "evil" races is beyond reprehensible. Yet, what are orcs, and other such groups, for if not butchering? Role-playing Games are not necessarily high art, and there is no inherent requirement that they contain social commentary. However, the fact that nearly all of them unabashedly contain "evil" races -- who always bear an uncanny resemblance to nomadic aboriginal cultures -- is inexcusable. That Gary Gygax's racism will not been excised even from third edition is truly disappointing. The way D&D attempted to create an analogy of the discovery and colonization of the Americas with the Forgotten Realms Mazteca supplements is also appalling. White Wolf, the ideological opposite of D&D, is little better. In "Werewolf: the Wild West" they strongly suggested the massacre at Wounded Knee was a good thing. At the same time they always bend over backwards to emphatically state that all technology is bad and evil, a philosophy that is just as asinine. The only game systems that even come close to any sort of racial responsibility and maturity are Deadlands, Last Unicorn Games Star Trek, and lately Blizzard. In Deadlands, the Indians may not be winning, but they are not an "evil" race for character to kill, and they are making a good showing of protecting themselves. Star Trek also does not have any "evil" races -- with the possible exception of the Borg, who are more of a "thing" than a race – but they still manage to present hostile and dangerous races. Juding by what has been posted at the Blizzard web site, the Third Warcraft game will have the orcs as tribal and not evil. All three companies do this without moving into the dreaded "political correctness." Would that other game companies would do likewise. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" should be required reading in high schools across America. It would go a lot further to help produce better people than having to memorize Poe's "the Raven" ever does. Likewise, gamers, who pride themselves on being a tolerant and open-minded bunch of people, would do well to read this excellent book before they ride in on their next village full of an "evil" race. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)